Something in the mist
by Tennsters
Summary: Giles' life changes the night he recieves news that his sister, husband and nephew were in a car crash. But all is not what it seems. Spike, his nephew is the only one who holds the answers. Will he get over what happened? Or is there something bigger going on inside of him? Buffy finds her feeling for Spike changing the longer they are around each other...even if Angel hates it
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: All the characters in this story belong to Joss Whedon *sigh*

Author's notes: This story begins just after Angel returned in season 3 and is mostly cannon. Big thank you to my friend Kirsten; who I have consulted a lot about this story. Enjoy and don't forget to read and review.

 **Something in the mist**

 **Chapter one**

It had been a week since Angel had been resurrected. She had just started getting over killing the love of her life when he made his return. But when he had returned he was like a savage beast. No one knew. She couldn't tell them about him yet or she wouldn't. Buffy wanted Angel to be back to his normal self before she even mentioned anything to her friends or her watcher. Angel was slowly getting there but the slayer knew it would take time. She also knew her friends had to find out about him eventually, Buffy wasn't stupid.

The hot water rained down on her slender form as she rubbed her hair one last time before turning the shower off. Stepping out and wrapping herself up in a towel, Buffy knew she loved him and at the same time had that sinking feeling that thing between her and Angel would never work out. Like it was never meant to be; as much as she didn't want to admit it.

"Buffy...Rupert has just left a letter for you," Joyce shouted up the stairs.

Her mother's voice brought Buffy out of her train of thought.

"OK. I'll be down in a minute, mom!"

Strange. Out of character? This was all the words to describe Giles leaving her a letter.

Once Buffy was ready she hurried down the stairs and into the kitchen.

"Morning sweetie...here's the letter."

Joyce handed her daughter the letter. Buffy ripped open the envelope.

"Aren't you going to have something to eat first? You're already late for school," Joyce continued.

Buffy paused.

"No, breakfast can wait. For Giles to leave me a letter can only mean one thing..."

The slayer dug inside the envelope and pulled out the letter.

 _Dear Buffy,_

 _Something has come up that requires my upmost attention. In order to correctly deal with the situation I have to go to England for a couple of weeks. I could be gone a bit longer, I have no idea._

 _I have been informed that someone has come to 'replace' me in my absence. His name is Wesley Wydham-Price. He will be your watcher while I tend to this business._

 _I don't expect you to immediately get along with him but please do not make his life difficult._

 _I ask you to please leave me be and under no circumstances come to my home once you have read this. I need all the time I can to prepare myself for my trip to England._

 _Giles_

Buffy furrowed her brows and blinked. As soon as the last words of her watcher's letter hit her she had made a decision. She was going to ignore his wishes and go see him.

Author's notes: so guys what do you think? I know its a very short chapter but there will be longer ones. Please read and review it means the world to me to see what people think.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: All the characters in this story belong to Joss Whedon *sigh*

Author's notes: This story begins just after Angel returned in season 3 and is mostly cannon. Big thank you to my friend Kirsten; who I have consulted a lot about this story. Enjoy and don't forget to read and review.

 **Something in the mist**

 **Chapter two**

"Buffy, I thought I told you not to come here?" Giles said, incredulously.

Buffy shrugged.

"Have I ever listened to you?"

Giles shook his head.

"Well this can't come as a surprise to you then," Buffy continued, making her way inside his home.

He remained by the door. Buffy rarely listened to him and if he was honest, that was the part he liked about her the most. A slayer, that knew her own mind. Not corrupted or strictly on the mission. So that might not have been the best mind set to have all the time but neither was the opposite.

He had dealt with many situations over his life time. Work related and personal. Nothing could have prepared him for this. The news that Wesley had brought him from England had deeply affected him in more ways than one. Of course it was going to, this was his family. Family, who were outside of the council and slayer world? Had nothing to do with his world or the dangers it presented. Instead, his family face the harsh reality of the real world where people are murdered on a daily basis and accidents unfortunately happen. The whole time since he found out, his mind had been on one thing. That poor boy.

"Council business, Giles?" Buffy's voice broke him out of his train of thought.

"You know, since that is the only reason you would think of writing and running on me."

He looked at her sternly.

"I have a life outside of the council, Buffy. I'm not all about tweed and books."

She took a step closer to him, trying to figure out what all of this was about. She felt like a hypocrite asking him what was going on when she hadn't been honest about Angel. But Buffy knew whatever was sending Giles back to England was deeply affecting him. That was the reason she was prying like this. She not only cared about him, she saw him as a father figure.

"What happened?" Buffy asked.

He pinched the bridge of his nose. Giles really wasn't in the mood and didn't have the time to argue with Buffy. As much as she was his responsibility, Rupert Giles had another responsibility now. Opting for the best option, he decided to give Buffy a bit of information.

"It's a family matter..." he said, eyes growing sorrowful.

Buffy frowned and went to answer but was cut off by Giles.

"I will fill you in as soon as I get back. However, right now my priorities are in England. Wesley will take good care of you while I'm gone, I can assure you."

Buffy had a sinking feeling about this. Somehow she knew when Giles returned from England that things were going to change. But no one would guess just how much life for them all would change.

Author's notes: I know another short chapter I'm trying to build the beginning of the story up slowly so I am breaking up the prologue into smaller chunks. Please, please read and review. The reviews I get spur me on and mean the world to me.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: All the characters in this story belong to Joss Whedon *sigh*

Author's notes: This story begins just after Angel returned in season 3 and is mostly cannon. Big thank you to my friend Kirsten; who I have consulted a lot about this story. Enjoy and don't forget to read and review.

 **Something in the mist**

 **Chapter three**

All Rupert wanted to do since he arrived in England was see him. For some reason, there had been delay after delay and just when he thought he was finally getting somewhere there were more delays. First his flight had to be postponed for a couple of hours, then there was a queue to get luggage was he arrived in London.

When he arrived at the hospital, jet lagged; Giles' calm temperament was already on thin ice. Now, he sat in an office waiting to see him. See what state he was in. Comfort him. But there was yet another delay. The doctor apparently wanted to talk to him before letting Giles see the boy.

"Mr Giles...you're nephew is very lucky to have survived that crash. Let alone get away with only bumps and bruises. I'm afraid his parents weren't so lucky."

"I realise that. I don't want you to think that I do not appreciate what you have done for him but I am struggling to understand why there is such a delay on me seeing him? Surely, what the boy needs now is family, not to be kept away from me...I am sadly the only living relative he has now."

The doctor nodded sadly.

"I agree, Mr Giles, I do. However, there are certain injuries that we are struggling to figure out how they got there."

Giles knitted his brows together with concern.

"Like what?"

The doctor sighed. He had seen car crash victims before with a variety of injuries. None like this young man.

Pursing his lips, he began to explain.

"All the windows were smashed; there was glass on him, his parents' bodies and all over the car when the paramedics got to the scene. Yet, he didn't have a single scratch on him. He also sustained a bruised back...the shape of the bruise was in perfect symmetry; shape of the belt. And then there were his jeans...they were ripped or cut from his groin to his, well rear end. The rip looks too perfect to have been done by bending over or even during the crash."

Giles let the information soak in.

"Are you trying to tell me that you don't think my nephew's injuries were caused by the crash? I hope you're not trying to insinuate that he was abused in some way?"

Then it hit him. The doctor thought his parents done this and that his nephew was responsible for the crash.

"That's it, isn't it? You are trying to keep me away from him because you think he is guilty! You think he murdered his parents, don't you?"

"Well, something isn't right with this situation-"

"What has he said about this? Have you even thought to ask him what happened instead of making absurd accusations?"

The doctor nodded again.

"Of course...the boy simply refuses to speak to any of our staff and for some reason the police have simply dismissed the notion that this is nothing other than a car crash...despite the evidence pointing in another direction."

Giles' eyes darkened and the young doctor scrambled to explain even further.

"I'm not saying your nephew is the guilty party in this...but something isn't adding up, Mr Giles. Perhaps he may open up to someone he knows."

He sighed deeply, gathering up his paper work. The doctor looked at the paperwork then back at the older man.

"His injuries may well have been caused from the crash but I've never seen crash victims with injuries like that."

Giles nodded, solemnly.

"Can I, see him now?"

"Of course," the doctor replied, smiling.

OoOoOoOoO

A day ago...

 _ **Shivering. When did it get so cold? Aching from the injuries he had sustained, Spike looked at his wrists. They were still in chains. But at least his legs were free now. His bruised, swollen eyes roamed down to his ripped jeans. He remembered every single thing that bastard had done to him and his parents. He desperately wanted to forget. Forget what that man did to him; subjected him to. All so he could carry out his sick experiment. The smell of his parent's slowly rotting bodies made him feel sick.**_

 _ **Spike didn't know when he was going to be let go; if he was even going to get out alive. But he knew something. If his uncle ever found out what they did to him...well, who knows what he would do?**_

 _ **The door opened and in walked a middle aged man dressed in tweed. The bastard. Followed by a young woman, whose hair was tightly pulled back into a bun and a younger looking man, also wearing tweed. The older man walked up to him and stopped a foot away.**_

" _ **Well it looks like our little experiment failed...you were not viable after all, William."**_

" _ **...Spike...," the chained teen corrected.**_

 _ **The young man smiled slightly. The boy hadn't seemed to of lost his entire attitude. Both men were focussed on the boy chained to the wall that they didn't noticed the woman slipping a tablet into the bottle of water she had brought in.**_

 _ **He turned to the young woman in the room just as the tablet had dissolved into the water. Her expression was cold. Void of emotion; or she tried her best not to show how sickened she was. His eyes then went back to the hostage. Wesley hadn't been a watcher for long but never in his life did he expect to see the sights he had through the past few days. He was sure his boss was losing it. But he was scared of Quentin. Scared of the connections he had. Scared that if he even dared try to make an attempt to correctly inform William's uncle of the events that happened. That's why he chose not to say anything. Remain quiet. In fear for his own family paying the price. No, they had to be kept safe. Even if it meant the truth never came out and the evil senior watcher never paid for subjecting the poor boy to rape and other forms of torture. All because he wasn't willing to take part in his twisted experiment. Oh, Wesley knew he would be plagued with guilt for the rest of his life and he didn't know how he would deal with that.**_

" _ **I'd hate for anything to happen to Rupert, so please understand that if he find outs about what went on here...I will not hesitate in having him disposed. You don't want that now, do you William?"**_

" _ **No..." Spike replied, shaking his head, violently.**_

" _ **Good. If I am perfectly honest, Rupert Giles is one of the best Watchers we have so disposing of him would be a shame."**_

" _ **Lydia, see that William is prepared for release. I have a car crash scene to set up," the man continued, walking towards the exit.**_

" _ **...Yes, Mr Travers."**_

 _ **Lydia's eyes remained on the door. She had to make sure her boss was gone before she put her plan into action. She noticed Wesley looked like he was about to break.**_

" _ **Here, drink this," Lydia said, passing him the bottle of water.**_

 _ **Spike watched the exchange, slumped against the wall. He just wanted this nightmare to be over.**_

" _ **Lydia...what have you done?" Wesley muttered, falling unconscious to the floor.**_

 _ **The sound of his body falling to the floor startled Spike. Looking at the woman, he suddenly becoming scared of her. He froze as Lydia sat next to him.**_

" _ **What did you do to him?" Spike asked, pointing to Wesley.**_

" _ **Only what Quentin is going to do to us all. What he wanted me to give you."**_

" _ **And that is?" Spike asked, raising his brow.**_

 _ **Lydia paused, looking at the empty water bottle.**_

" _ **Before we came in here, Mr Travers gave me strict instruction...he wanted you to be killed but I made him see that Rupert would grow suspicious if he did," she began to explain.**_

 _ **She went to touch him but decided that was a bad idea, after everything he had been through.**_

" _ **He suggested that I give you a drug that would make you forget everything that had happened...I couldn't do that, I gave it to Wesley instead. H-He has to be stopped and you're the only one who can because he is going to drug us all as well. Every last one of us who witness his disgusting treatment of you and your parents...it will all be forgotten by the morning."**_

 _ **Spike remained silent.**_

" _ **I have too much respect for Mr Giles to let this travesty go unnoticed...The man is sick and sardonic...it will take time but I promise you, if you do things correctly, Quentin Travers will pay for all of his actions."**_

 _ **She stood up, and smiled sadly.**_

" _ **For what it's worth...I'm sorry."**_

Back at the hospital...

When he entered the room, Giles wasn't prepared for the sight before him.

His once confident and cocky nephew, had been reduced to a cowering mess.

"William..."

Spike refused to turn to look at his uncle or even acknowledge his presence in the room. He desperately wanted to keep his uncle from dying. Giles stepped further into the hospital room.

"Talk to me, William...please."

The teenage boy turned to face his uncle.

"Spike...my name is Spike now. Has been for a while."

That was all he said before he turned back to face the window. If keeping his uncle safe meant ignoring Lydia's words then that what he would do. He would hide the truth from him and try to forget it ever happened, believing that he and his parents really were involved in a car crash.

Spike frowned as he looked at his hands. The cuts he had sustained to his hands and the bruises that marred his lower arms were healing fast. Too fast for a normal human.

It was going to become very hard for Spike to forget what actually happened, what that bastard had done to him.

Especially when his experiment hadn't failed after all.

Author's notes: Well here is another chapter and a longer one at that! Haha.

As always please please ,please read and review. It means the world to me and I like to hear what my readers think of my work. What they think is happening what they may want to happen. So please review. Love and light to you all.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: All of the characters in this story belong to Joss Whedon *sigh*

Author's notes: This story is set in season three of Buffy the vampire slayer and will mostly stick to canon. A huge thanks to Kirsten, my friend for all her input and DeAmonQuEen for all your amazing help and advice.

Enjoy guys!

 **Chapter four**

Two figures stood in front of the freshly buried graves one rainy afternoon the Landican cemetary. The first one was a tall gentleman, in his early forties. He had round spectacles on his eyes and wore the usual black suit funeral clothing. He was carrying an umbrella, thus shielding him from the heavy rain. He had a sad expression as he eyed his companion, who was decades younger than him.

The younger one of the two also wore similar clothing, only his were drench from standing under the rain. He had refused the man's offer of an umbrella earlier, explaining his current wet self. The young man was ignoring his companion and simply stood in front of the two graves with a haunted expression. His mind was playing back the events that had happened to him several days prior to the funeral: his capture and torment under the Council's hands, their pesky experiment on his body, his parents' deaths, their threats to his uncle's life.

However, it wasn't just those things bothering him.

The police were investigating him and up until the day before were accusing Spike of the murder of his parents. His uncle, Rupert defended him, of course. There was also that tiny little strange feeling going on inside his body, which he believed was probably an effect of the experimentation he had gone through...

There were just so many things that had happened to him and he had no one to talk to. So much he had to deal with and he had to deal with them alone. Uncle Rupert should be the first person Spike should be able to talk to about what really happened; what that madman Quentin Travers had done. Had subjected him to and the cruel and visious murder of his beloved parents. But he couldn't. Spike knew that in order to keep his uncle safe he would have to keep what happened a secret. Locking it inside of him until he was six feet in the ground. Spike came to the sombre reality that if he were to be dead any time soon, he wouldn't care. Least being in a wooden box would save him the anguish of replaying the past week and half of his life.

Spike was shaking in angry frustration, and he hated the feeling of weakness going on inside of him.

"Dammit! Dammit! Dammit it all to buggering hell!" he cursed internally.

Then he tensed and fear immediately overcame him, as he felt a hand touch his shoulder. He looked up to the man beside him and realized that the hand came from his uncle, who had finally decided to approach him.

The hand that had been laid on him was not one that was meant to hurt him, as he had thought earlier, but was placed there as an act of comfort. Spike relaxed a bit before he tensed again, seeing the expression on the older gentleman's face: Pity.

God he hated that word, and most especially when it was directed on him. But Spike could neither hate or blame the man for giving him that expression. He was indeed a pitiful mess. He cannot deny that. But it did not mean he wasn't trying to be strong or get better. He was just facing a lot of shit at the moment, that he didn't fully have it in him to be angry at anyone but himself.

"I'm sorry, my dear boy," Giles told him.

"I wish there is something more I can do for you."

Spike's body shook again at Giles' words. He wished the same thing too. He wished he could just tell his uncle everything. He wished that he could let the man help him, protect him and just keep him safe from everything that had happened or would probably happen to him. But he can't and it was killing him.

Giles, not knowing what else to do, took the distraught teen in his arm and allowed him to cry there.

"There, there, William. I'm here for you, my child, I promise you're not alone," he whispered to his nephew as he allowed the boy to cry in his arms.

Giles was struggling with his own grief. He had lost his sister and her husband. A man, who he had grown very fond of through the years of their marriage. He was close to losing his nephew as well. Giles would do everything in his power to ensure that he wouldn't lose him. Not now.

The watcher was still concerned about Spike's injuries and how the doctor described them not fitting to your typical car crash injuries. He was still reeling from the police investigation and when they suggested that his nephew had the injuries of someone who had been sexually assaulted, Giles wanted to block it all out. Spike had denied the whole thing, snapping at his uncle, the doctor and police. This made Giles' hope that it was just a car crash remain firm in his mind.

"Everything will be fine. Uncle Rupert is here and he'll take good care of you. You don't have to worry about anything. He'll take you away from all this and bring you with him back to America. Everything will be alright, I promise..."

-Time Skip-

One week later.

Buffy Summers, Slayer, Chosen One, she-who-walked-in-the-cemetery, was currently having the worse day of her life.

Mr. Garret, her history teacher, had just given her an F on her report on the Civil War. Then Andrea Pevelski, the figure skater, had spilled her drink on her on purpose because she saw her boyfriend flirting with her. And finally she got word that her Watcher, who should be overseeing her training, had just asked another week off from work in her school! It was bad enough that the man hadn't even told her why he was leaving, but the fact that she hasn't heard from him for three weeks?! It was unacceptable! Shouldn't there be some sort of punishment for Watchers who are not doing their jobs properly?!

She had just finished talking to Xander and Willow about what happened to make her day so bad and the only thing her two best friends could say to her was...

"Maybe something important came up?" Xander suggested.

"Of course, something important happened! But what?! Couldn't he just call and explain things better for me?! It's not like picking up the phone is such a hard thing to do?" said the complaining Slayer.

"He did say that he had some family matters to attend to…A-And I'm not defending him going of like that, all AWOL…" Willow explained, trying to reason with the Slayer.

"Maybe they held him up a bit longer?"

"And again, why didn't he call me to let me know about it?" Buffy asked, raising a quizzical brow.

Her two friends became silent after that, not knowing what else to say to her. Buffy began to feel irritated, and decided to leave the two of them to be alone. At least if she was alone she can deal with her irritation better.

"Maybe she should go to the library and do some training exercises?" she thought. "Perhaps that'll calm me down."

On her way to the library though, she passed down the hallway and was surprised at the sight of her missing Watcher standing beside the ugly troll, Snyder, and a lanky looking teen with weird platinum blood hair. She was able to hear the last part of their conversation and was even more surprised at what she heard.

"I'm only considering this young man's entry in this school because of what happened to him, Mr. Giles." the annoying little principal said, before turning to face Spike.

"Look young man, I know the kind of person kids with faces like yours are. They are trouble. But like I told your uncle I am only considering your enrolment in this school because of what happened to you and your family. One wrong move, and you'll face expulsion!" And then he turned and left the two of them alone after that.

"Charming git, isn't he?" the boy told her Watcher.

"Yes, he's not exactly the most loveable human being you would see. But worry not, my boy. Aside from that old troll, the rest of the people in this school are quite pleasant...I'm sure you'll fit right in here in no time," Giles said, giving the boy a comforting one arm hug.

The hug made the boy move back his touch.

Buffy suddenly felt a fit of anger at the sight of her Watcher showing similar affection to a complete stranger to her. Who the hell was this kid? And what is his relationship with her Watcher?!

It was rather unfair of her to immediately despise the boy, when she had not even known him yet. However, all her frustration of that day and of her Watcher came rolling back and she just lost herself in her anger.

"So you finally decided to come back, huh, Giles?" she said, revealing he presence to the two.

"Buffy! Wha-"

"Am I doing here?"

She crossed her arms and glared at her Watcher.

"I go to school here, remember? Or has your time away from Sunnydale made you forget all your obligations to this place? To me?"

"Buffy, what are you-"

"Doing? Isn't it obvious, Mr supposed watcher of mine? I am trying to give you a good scolding here for slacking at your job. A job that you seemed to have forgotten because you're too busy hugging random Billy Idol wannabe boys….Wait, you haven't gone to bat for your side of the team have you?"

"Buffy, I'm sor-"

"Sorry? You really think sorry is gonna cover for three weeks of not contacting me? What if something apocalyptic happened during those times you've been away and you came back to a dead slayer and no school? What if the Mayor turned into a snake and ate everyone? What then, huh? Who do you think would've been blamed if the world ended because the Slayer couldn't save it because her Watcher wasn't around?"

"The world didn't end, now did it?" was the boy's snarky reply to her.

"Excuse me?!"

Buffy turned to face the boy. Rude, over cocky and Billy idol lookalike. Yep, he screamed bad boy; whole heap of bad news right there.

"I said, you're making such a big deal out of everythin' just 'cause you're Watcher was too busy to tend to you. You're making these statements about blaming him for the end of the world, when it is your responsibility to stop it. With or without his help, Slayer," he said her name with a sneer.

"Saying such things, would only make you look incompetent, not the other way around."

"Hey! Who are you calling incompetent, jerk!"

"Who do you think, you stupid bitch?" Spike smirked

"Ooh! Now you're calling me the B-word, huh? Well, I oughta show you how much of a bitch I can really be."

Buffy stepped closer to him and raised her hand in pose to punch his nose.

Spike took a step closer to her, with his hands fixed and waited patiently for her to make her move. If she punched him, he'd have a reason to fight back.

"Buffy! Spike! Enough!" Giles' yelled, stopping the two.

He turned to his Slayer and gave her a stern glare.

"Buffy, I know I haven't called you for some time, and I apologize for that. But I had urgent matters to attend to and I simply did not have time to give you a call. My sister and her husband just died and I had to tend to their funeral and other arrangements, so you could give me some form of consideration!"

Giles sighed.

"I know I have duties to you as your Watcher, but Spike is right. The world did not end and you are not hurt. So my not being here didn't cause you any harm whatsoever! So you have no reason to be that angry at me, considering I did nothing wrong besides not calling!"

She was shocked and suddenly felt ashamed at her awful behaviour.

"Giles' sister died? God! Well, that explains a lot about the not calling! Way to go Buffy for acting like a complete bi-atch!" she internally scolded herself.

"And you, Spike, you haven't even started classes here, and your already causing trouble. Now I know it was alright in your school back at England to pick fights with the other kids but here in the States, people do differently. So please, my boy, try to at least fit in? I am only going to give you a certain amount of leeway…giving the circumstances."

"Alright, uncle," the boy said with a small pout.

"Uncle?" Buffy blurted out.

"Ah-yes, Buffy, this is William, though he prefers to be called Spike. He is my nephew and he'll be living with me from now on and will start classes here in Sunnydale High starting tomorrow. So please be nice to him. He's already been through so much," Giles told her, giving her an imploring look.

She nodded at her Watcher.

"Okay, for Giles. I can play nice to the new kid. Even if the said kid is a big and total jerk face," she said internally.

"Hey! Sorry about earlier. How about we start again. I'm Buffy Summers, Giles' Slayer, and student here in Sunnydale High. It's a pleasure to meet you!" she said offering her hand and giving him one of her megawatt smile.

The blond teen, simply sneered at her before slapping her hand away.

"I don't touch hands with rude and ignorant bastards," he told her, before turning to her uncle, telling him that he was going back to the car.

"Very well, Spike. I shall follow you in a minute," Giles said softly to the young man, completely ignoring the angry young woman beside him. "I need to talk to Buffy first."

"Whatever, old man," Spike said, attempting to leave the pair only to be stopped by the angry Slayer who stepped in front of him.

"Who do you think you are?!" the Slayer screamed.

"I was trying to be nice here, because you're Giles' nephew and he said you're gonna be staying with him. But you go off and call me rude and ignorant and another B-word again! If anyone is rude here that is you, buster! And how the heck can you talk to your uncle like that? He's trying to help you here and you're calling him old man? Why you're a real ungrateful brat!"

When he directed her an uninterested look, Buffy's anger grew.

"You're just new here, you jerk! And new kids don't act so high and mighty around here. So you better get your act together or everyone's gonna start picking on you!" she finished but still didn't get a response from the boy.

Instead she got a very bored, "Are you done yet?" from the other teen.

She stopped for a moment, surprised that nothing she just said seemed to matter to him, before once again anger ruled her heart.

"No, I am not! Look, bucko, this silent mysterious rebel attitude of yours might've worked in your country but, here? Everything is different. When someone scolds us and tells us we're wrong about something, we listen and actually have the capability to feel sorry for what we do! You don't have that and that is just rude!"

"Alright, I'm rude," Spike admitted, with a shrug.

"But so what? You're not my mother or my father, what gives you the right to actually scold me?"

"Well, I may not be your parents, but I can tell you've been a real disappointment to them!"

"Buffy-" Giles called out, trying to stop the girl from continuing.

But the Slayer wasn't finished.

"It must be the reason why you're here in the first place, right? You've done some serious crap back at home; bet you're into drink and drugs and now they decided you were too much for them, so they send you all the way to the other side of the pond? You're parents must've really hated you and that's why-"

Slap!

Buffy stopped as Spike's hand landed painfully on her face. More anger filled her heart and she raised her fist again to retaliate, but froze at the sight of the tears falling down the boy's eyes.

"You don't know anything, you stupid fucking bint!"

And with that he left.

Buffy stood there staring at the double door of the school, where the boy left. She then felt hand on her shoulder, making her look up to see the grim expression on her Watcher's face.

"Buffy, I understand you're annoyance at William's behaviour, but you shouldn't have said those hurtful words to him. After all he was only acting that way because I told you of his parent's deaths."

Her eyes widened in realization. His sister was dead and Spike was his nephew and he'll be caring for him now. Putting all those facts together only meant that Spike was Giles' sister's son!

"Oh, my god! And I-" she couldn't finish it. And she didn't have to. It was already too late for her to take back everything she said to the other teen.

"Giles, I'm-"

"I believe, it is not me who you should apologize to, Buffy," her Watcher cut her off.

He removed his hand from her and began cleaning his glasses.

"I had planned to discuss with you a bit further about some things relating your duties as a Slayer but, now that it seems I have far more urgent matters I need to attend to. I shall see you in a few days to discuss these things. So until, then farewell."

And with that her Watcher left to follow his nephew outside, leaving Buffy racked up in guilt.

OoOoOoOo

After school, Buffy was still racked up with guilt over what she did to Giles' nephew. It didn't help that when she told Willow and Xander about what happened, the three of them decided to research more about the new kid and learned all about his tragic past.

According to the news report from England, which Willow found online: Spike, also known as William Henri Pratt, was found alive in a vehicular accident that killed both his parents, who, later on, were found guilty of abusing and sexually harassing the boy. This led the authorities to believe in the possibility that the teenager might be involved in causing the accident. Luckily, after further investigation, they were able to ascertain the teen's innocence.

After, learning all of about this, Buffy felt even worse about what she did, and so she told her friends that she wanted to patrol alone so she can think of ways to apologize to the young man.

Nothing happened much during patrol. She dusted a few vamps and killed one creepy bug-type demon. But it was still early for the Slayer to turn in so she decided to go to the one place she had been secretly visiting for the past few weeks, Crawford Mansion.

The old large two-storey house used to be the home of the soulless version of her vampire lover and his minions and crazy Childe, Drusilla. After defeating him a few months back and preventing the apocalypse, the house became a taboo for her and she made sure to avoid visiting it, until a couple of weeks ago. When her former vampire lover, with his soul, suddenly appeared before her naked and extremely feral. It took her a week to calm him down, but even then he was still weak.

Apparently, hell took from a lot for a vampire who visited there.

So she had been stuck taking care of the said vampire in secret, because she knew her friends wouldn't want anything to do with him, after all he did to them.

Now, she was on her way there not for her usual visits to give him blood, but because she needed advice on how to deal with Spike, the boy she had carelessly insulted and hurt.

Slowly opening the door, Buffy moved in silence as she walked inside, not wanting to make too much noise as so to attract attention to anyone who might pass by the area. She walked in the darkness, having already memorized the place after visiting it for several times now, and entered one of the house's rooms, where she knew the vampire she was looking for would be.

"Buffy," the vampire stated, as she came inside the room.

"How are you?" He gave her an awkward smile, not knowing how else to act around the girl.

"Everything's fine. Giles' back," she said, trying to sound chirpy, as so not to worry him yet.

"That's good," he replied, not noticing that the girl was simply acting happy around him.

"You've been worried about him since he left."

"I have. And I was kind of angry at him too. That's why I sort of yelled at him when I saw him earlier.-"

Her faced then turned all guilt ridden and miserable, as she relayed what happened earlier with her Watcher and his nephew.

After her tale, Buffy and Angel were now sitting side by side on the couch inside the room, with Angel putting an awkward and comforting hand on the distraught teen.

"I was so insensitive, Angel and you should've seen the look on his face after I said those harsh words to him. He was so sad and angry and so filled of hatred that he was sent to tears. God! No wonder he hit me! I was just so cruel to him! I'm actually kind of glad he was stronger than he looked, because when he slapped me and it hurt, it made me feel a bit better since I knew he was able to get back at me a little for everything I said. But only a little because I know I still hurt him and he deserves more than being able to hit me, he actually deserves an apology!" Buffy cried.

Angel paused for a moment.

"Then why don't you give him that, Buffy? You said so yourself, he deserves it. I think you should go to him and tell him that," was the vampire's advice to her.

"And what if he doesn't accept it,Angel? What it he hates me now? And curses me and stuff? What then?"

"Buffy, I can't really give you anymore advice on how to ask someone forgiveness because-really, I think between the two of us, I hurt more people than you have and deserve to ask forgiveness from everyone more than you do. But I'm too much of a coward to face everyone yet, so I haven't done it. Also, a lot of people I hurt aren't around anymore for me to say I'm sorry to," he told her.

"But it's different for you Buffy. You didn't kill anyone, or physically hurt them either. You simply said cruel insensitive things to a boy that-yes, hurt his feelings. But it's because of these feelings that I think you should try even harder to gain his forgiveness. Buffy, you said this kid has been through a lot, and if that is so, then he deserves kindness. I think the best way for him to have that is for you to show him that by apologizing to him."

"What if he doesn't accept my apology?" she asked again.

"Then you just keep trying to prove to him that you really are sorry and try to make it up to him, because I think this kid deserves it…But Buffy, you can't force someone to forgive you. They have to forgive you of their own free will."

Buffy thought hard on the vampire's words and saw the truth in them. She nodded to the vampire and told him that she was leaving and going to Giles' place to see the boy and apologize to him before she went home. The vampire nodded and watched as the woman he loved left his room and listened to her as she exited the house.

When Angel was finally alone, he stood up from the couch and began pacing. He had been feeling weird ever since hearing about the boy, named Spike. He felt his blood rushing throughout his body, his senses tripling and his fangs trying to appear. But he kept all this from happening while Buffy was around. Not wanting to freak her out or get a pointy stake through his heart.

But now that she was no longer there, he had allowed these feeling and sensations to finally come out.

It was a strange thing, what was happening to him, but he couldn't be bothered at the moment. Angel was trying to prevent himself from running and searching for this boy. This boy, who Whistler specifically said he should try to stay as far away from as possible. That if he got close to him that things would end badly for both of them.

"Damn, stinking demon, that's easier said than done, you idiot," he muttered while holding his body's shaking form.

OoOoOoOo

After dinner, Spike told his uncle that he was retiring for the night, but that was a lie. In truth, the boy wanted to leave the house so he faked being tired and had gone to his room, telling the Watcher not to disturb him. After setting his bed to look like he was sleeping in it, by using pillows to fill it, he went out of his bedroom window and ran out in to the night.

Spike was feeling restless, like he suddenly had a great need to leave the house and hunt. It didn't make sense this strange feeling, and he hated it. But he knew he had to fulfil the need. So he left and went to the one place where he was certain he could get what he needed, the cemetery.

Spike walked alone and looked around as if searching for something. A noise was heard from afar and there stood a couple of feet from him were the objects he was searching for. Vampires; five of them to be exact.

He should run, but his instincts told him otherwise. It told him to fight, to kill. Without thought and with great speed, he attacked them. Fighting them with his bare hands and beating them up one by one, Spike was able to slay all five vamps.

After the fight, he stared around him in horror as the sudden reality of what he had just done came crashing down like a ton of bricks.

"What the bloody hell is going on with me?" Spike whispered.

He stared at his bleeding but fast healing knuckles, before running as fast as he could towards his uncles home in hopes that he could sleep off the nightmare which he had just been through.

Author's notes: So guys what do you think? Please leave a lovely reply for us. We would love it!

Next chapter will be up shortly.


	5. Chapter 5: Part One

Disclaimer: All of the characters in this story belong to Joss Whedon *sigh*

Author's notes: This story is set in season three of Buffy the vampire slayer and will mostly stick to canon. A huge thanks to Kirsten, my friend for all her input and DeAmonQuEen for all your amazing help and advice.

Enjoy guys!

 **Chapter five; Part One**

She had missed him last night, when she came to Giles' house to apologize. Apparently, the Spike was an early sleeper, so she was forced to delay the apologizing until the next day. Of course, it seemed that her apologizing to him would take a while longer to happen, seeing as she had no idea where the new kid was.

Buffy knew he was supposed to start school that day. But what she didn't know was what his class schedule would be or what part of the school would she find him. At first, she had assumed that he'd be at the library with Giles. He was his nephew after all. But when Buffy got there, she was met by her Watcher's substitute, Wesley who was Mr. Serious and a gigantic bore. Wesley kindly informed her that Mr. Giles wouldn't be returning to work for another six days.

Buffy decided to try and go and wait by the door to Snyder's office, remembering that on her first day in Sunnydale High, she was sent there to give her some reminders and her class schedules before she started her big day. Since Spike was also new, she immediately assumed he'd go there first. So she stood by the door and waited for anyone who would come in or come out of the office. After nearly fifteen minutes of waiting, she decided to call it quits, 'lest she'd be late for class.

Buffy went inside her classroom and waved at Willow and Xander, sitting down on her usual seat and waited for their hated Math teacher, Mr. Grisby, to arrive. The bell rang and right on cue, her everyday tormentor entered the room. He was followed by a familiar platinum blond hair, leather-wearing, British teen.

"Alright, class. Settle down!" Mr. Grisby ordered.

When everyone had finally settled in their seats, he begun.

"Alright, students, before we begin, I'd like to introduce you all to a new student who will be joining us this term. Everyone, this is Mr. William Pratt, he just transferred from England and a nephew to our very own school librarian, Mr. Giles. He has had a very hard time as of late; parents are dead so please treat him kindly. Now, before I let you sit down, Mr. Pratt, you have anything to say to your classmates?"

Spike glared at the Math teacher for even the slightest mention of what happened back in England. The less people who knew about it the better. He didn't want to be the topic of conversation and Mr. Grisby's mentioning of his parents was only going to make that impossible.

Turning his glare from the teacher to the classroom, Spike finally spoke.

"Spike. Not William or Pratt, but Spike. Do that and I think we'll all work out just fine," he told everyone in a very serious and threatening tone that seemed to intimidate the people in the room.

Harmony and Cordelia both looked Spike up and down and then turned to each other.

"He's really hot," Harmony whispered.

"Yeah…if you like that bad boy, sallow look," Cordelia replied.

"Umm-right! Well, Mr. uh-Spike, how about you find yourself a seat and we shall begin our discussion on where we left off last meeting. Ask your classmates for help if you find anything too confusing."

Spike ignored him and simply went to the vacant seat at the back, near the window and behind Buffy. The young woman tensed when the new kid approached her seat, looking down when he passed her. She was being stupid, Buffy knew that. She shouldn't be avoiding his gaze but instead she should be staring straight into his eyes and give him her best apologetic look. Or at least give him a verbal apology.

It was what she wanted wasn't it? To apologize to the guy and tell him she hadn't meant to be so cruel and insensitive. That she was sorry about what happened to him. It was why the slayer had been trying to find him all morning and why she went to her Watcher's house last night, wasn't it? So why was she suddenly feeling scared of him and was all with the avoido-girl act towards him?

Buffy subtly turned her head to the side to watch what Spike was doing behind her. He seemed to be ignoring everyone and was watching the window at the side. Then his eyes shifted and went to look at her direction. Immediately Buffy turned back and faced the front to, once again, avoid his gaze.

"Ugh! Stop being such a coward and just look him in the eyes and apologize, Buffy!" she told herself internally.

With that little speech over, Buffy turned her body this time to face him, trying to get his attention.

"Hey, um-how are you?"

She winced as she realized just how stupid she was to ask him that.

Her question merely earned her a sidelong glance from Spike, before he looked away from her again to face the window.

"Okay…I deserve that," she muttered, keeping a firm hold on her resolve.

"Look, about yesterday-"

"Ms. Summers!" cried out Mr. Grisby, making the Slayer jump and turn back to face her front.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"Mr. Grisby! I-um-I was trying to explain to, Spike over here about yesterday's discussion, that's all!" she lied.

The old, overweight Math teacher glared at the teen. Seeing right through her lie, he pointed to the equation on the board.

"Is that so? Well, then you wouldn't mind explaining all of it to everyone in class by answering the example problem on the board."

Buffy tensed as she stared at the complex equation her teacher was asking her to solve. She had no idea what to do or how to answer it. Math had never been her forte, much worse was the fact it seemed that this particular Math teacher wanted her to fail in his class, because the fat guy can't seem to find anyone else to call but her.

"Well, Ms. Summers? Everyone is waiting."

She heard snickers resounding around the room, like an echo and once again she felt humiliated. Buffy had saved the world on a nightly basis, yet she can't seem to get a break. There were always things that tried to get her and she knew the human world could be harsh and cruel. It was frustrating that the people, who were her reason for fighting, are the ones who made her life more suck even more. Which, in Buffy's opinion was just not fair!

She had been so focused on her mental musing that she failed to notice Spike standing up. He strode over to the board and answered the given question with ease.

"Mr. Spike! I asked Buffy, not you!" Mr. Grisby scolded.

"You shouldn't have done that!"

The young man hadn't answered him. Instead he aimed a deadly glare at the teacher, who took a few steps away from the teen. Danger! That was how the man translated that look. And because of this it made him want to get away from the young man as quick as possible.

The rest of the class; Buffy included did not fail to notice the exchange, they also saw the look Spike gave their teacher and it was enough to tell them to "Stay away from the New Kid".

Everyone simply fell silent after that and watched in silence as Spike returned to his seat and went back to staring at the window.

It took a few moments for the teacher to recover, but when he did he simply continued his discussion and acted like none of it ever happened. He even skipped discussing the equation the kid answered and had totally forgotten about her all because he wanted to avoid angering the new kid. All of this would've sounded really cool had Buffy not noticed just how scary Spike was and scary for her usually equals evil and dangerous. She didn't understand it but for some reason her Slayer senses were sensing something in Spike.

She had no clue what she was sensing, but she knew it was something not of the human variety.

"Oh, boy. This is bad. If Giles finds out about Spike not being human, it would kill him or worse! He might not believe me and he gets hurt because of it," she thought.

The bell finally rang and signified the end of the school day. And with the force of the wind, she watched as Spike left the room.

"Follow him!" one part of her mind ordered.

And, of course she immediately did.

OoOoOoOoOo

Buffy collected her stuff and went after Spike, not about her best friends trying to call out to her. She went outside and tried to find him amongst the crowd of students and almost lost him until she found the familiar peroxide coloured hair, rushing towards the school basement. Running after him, Buffy followed Spike downstairs.

When she got there, she found that no one was there.

"Dammit…Where the heck is he?" she asked, looking around the small room.

Suddenly, she heard fighting coming from the basement's sewer access. A frown marred her face as she went to investigate.

A few blocks away, Buffy had finally found the source of the fight. It was Spike fighting what she can only describe as the biggest, lizardy demon she had ever seen. And with only his fist, he was actually winning against it.

Punch!

Kick!

Punch!

Punch!

Kick!

Kick!

Buffy was amazed at the combination of attacks he was sending the demon's way. She had never seen anyone fight like, well except for herself, Kendra and possibly Angel. But there was something way different to his fighting style…like he was channelling all his anger toward the lizard.

She was completely fascinated and in awe, that she had totally forgotten about joining and helping in the fight until Spike practically had the demon's neck in his hands and had ripped the head off with his bare hands. Demon blood splattered all over him.

"…ewww," Buffy thought as she scrunched up her nose in disgust.

Luckily for her, she was too far to get hit by it. She watched him dropped the body with a thud.

"Spike," she whispered his name, making her presence known.

He turned to face her and Buffy took a step back as she saw the feral look on the his face. It was like he wasn't Giles' nephew anymore but some sort of monster; barely even human. A growl escaped his throat and her hand twitched to reach her stake in her pocket. But then suddenly his demeanour changed and he returned to the kid she met yesterday.

"Wha-" Spike said as he looked around, as if he was just noticing where he was.

One look at his clothes, his expression turned to horror as he saw his bloodied appearance.

"Oh, god…I did it again!"

"Again?" she asked, curiosity ladled her voice.

"Summers!" he exclaimed, looking even more horrified.

Spike turned his back on her and ran away from her before she can even stop him.

Buffy ran after him but after a few twist and turns in the sewer, she finally gave up knowing she could never find the kid.

Buffy stood still for a few minutes, trying to decide what to do next. instead of carrying on her search, she turned around and decided it would be best to talk to someone about what she had seen, most preferably her real Watcher. He needed to know about what she witnessed Spike doing. Knowing she had to tell Giles there was more going on with Spike than just his grief? That surprisingly would be the most hardest thing to convince him of. Even though Giles should be use to the supernatural by now. Most people lose one parent at a time, so losing both your mother and father in the same accident was, of course going to make the pain, anger, sadness and grief ten times worse. Making Spike act like he was superhuman? No, you don't gain powers like that through emotions. Buffy feared the worst. She was pretty sure that Spike was a demon and if that was the case it would break Giles into a million pieces.

OoOoOoOo

Giles knew he shouldn't be doing this. After all, he barely really knew the woman other than as his Slayer's mother, but he had no one else to turn to who would understand his situation. As he sat there on one of the kitchen island chairs waiting for Mrs. Summers finish making him a cup of tea, Giles contemplated on his decision on coming to see her to get advice on Spike.

When Joyce had finished preparing, she returned and placed the cup of tea in front of him, sitting down on one of the vacant island chairs and waited for him to speak.

Giles picked up the cup and took a sip out of courtesy, but his eyes widened as he tasted the tea. He looked at Joyce and then at the cup before he spoke.

"This-this is surprisingly good. In fact the best cup of tea I had since I came to this country."

Joyce beamed and giggled at the compliment.

"Good. I have been practicing making a good cup of tea since I found out Buffy's Watcher was British," the woman said proudly.

He felt humbled at Joyce's consideration and thanked her for it. The two shared a minute of companionable silence until finally Giles stated the purpose of his visit. He told the beautiful lady in front of him about what had happened to his nephew; from the accident to the bruises and wounds they found on his body, even up until the nightmares his nephew had been having ever since that night they found him.

"He would cry and scream, Joyce, just as if what had happened to him was still happening. Then he'd call to his parents asking-no, begging them to stop and asking for help. Mom, Dad, no! Please! Don't! Stop! Help!... Those were his words."

Giles paused before continuing.

"It's just horrible hearing him scream out. What makes it worse is that it seemed that the accusations of his parents abusing him are becoming more and more evident as I listen to his nightmares."

Frustration was visible on the man's face. His hands were fixed to the table and he was shaking in anger.

"I want to help him, but how can I, when he won't even tell me what happened? Every time I try to ask him, he walks away from me, ignores me, or tells me to mind my own business!"

Giles stood up from his chair, pacing as he continued on with his rant.

"But how can I bloody mind my own business when HE IS my business? He is my nephew, after all! My flesh and blood…William is all I have left and it hurts me that I cannot do anything for him because he doesn't trust me enough! I don't blame him for not trusting me, not in the slightest… I wouldn't trust anyone either had what happened to him happened to me! His parents, Joyce! His own parents did something so horrifying to him that the boy is having nightmares! And I-and I-I just don't know what to do anymore."

He finally stopped and turned to face the other occupant in the room.

"I just want to help him, Joyce. But I don't know how or where to start."

Joyce walked up to Giles and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"I think that you're doing wonderful job in helping him, Rupert. But from what you told me of what William has been through, I think what he needs is actual professional help."

"You mean like a therapist?" Giles clarified.

Joyce nodded.

"Yes, I think Spike needs someone who can help him come to terms with what happened and what has been done to him. If you're struggling to get him to open up to you then who better to do that than someone who actually studied and help children who experience the same situations."

"I can offer you both all the help I can…how about you come for dinner one night, try and make things a bit normal for him and for you, Rupert?" She offered.

Giles mulled over her offer of dinner for a few minutes before nodding his head.

"Yes, I do believe trying to mix would benefit us both. Dinner sounds lovely."

"However, after everything being said and done, I think professional help will be the best option for him."

"I don't think so, mom," Buffy's voice resounded from the backdoor.

The said door opened and the Slayer came inside.

"Buffy, you're early! I thought you wouldn't be home until a little later. What with you always being busy with your Slayer stuff."

"I skipped training with Wesley to talk to Giles. I would've gone to his place but no one was there when I came to visit. So I decided to come home and call him on the phone from here, but it looks like I don't have to since he's already here."

She looked pointedly at her Watcher.

"Buffy, I apologise. I simply came to talk your mother about my problems. I had not planned to inconvenience you or anything-"

"You're not inconveniencing anyone, Rupert," Joyce said.

"You came because you needed a friend to help you and I am here to do that. I'm sure my daughter hadn't meant for it to sound like that. Am I right Buffy?"

Joyce narrowed her eyes at her daughter, silently urging her to apologize.

When Buffy got the message, she spoke, hurriedly.

"Mom's right, Giles. You didn't inconvenience anyone."

"Well, needless to say, I still feel that my visit has reached to its conclusion."

The watcher turned to the woman who let his pour his worries out and smiled softly.

"Thank you, Joyce, for the tea and for the advice. I shall very much consider it."

"You mean you're thinking of sending Spike to see a psychiatrist?" Buffy asked before he could leave.

"Yes, Buffy, I am. After everything Spike has been through, I think it's safe to say that he needs more help than I am qualified to give or able to…it saddens me to admit it but it is what the boy needs if he is ever going to get pass this."

She took a step toward Giles and he noticed the serious look on her face, he tried to ignore it and simply get out of there.

"Giles, you don't understand…there's something else that's wrong with Spike! Something that goes beyond the trauma from the accident!" Buffy said to her Watcher, earning the said man's attention.

"Buffy, what do you mean by 'Something that goes beyond the trauma from the accident'? Has something happened to William?"

The worry in his voice was evident and she couldn't help but feel guilty for making the whole situation worse. Maybe she should just make up something to throw him off the scent. But then she quickly dismissed that idea, knowing that Giles wasn't the type of man to just drop a serious subject like this; especially when it was about someone he cared about. And the fact that his nephew could be some evil demon, out to kill them all.

"Has he spoke to you about what happened?" Giles asked.

She ignored he pointed question. Joyce frowned at her daughter, seeing that the wheels in her head were turning.

"Buffy, I think you need to tell Rupert what you know. It might be something small to you but, to him it could be massive. This is his nephew we are talking about here."

Buffy took a deep breath.

"I followed him to the school's sewer access…" she started, looking to Giles.

Buffy began retelling the man about what happened earlier at school. A few minutes later, Giles was cleaning his eyes glasses again. More lines appeared on his face as he thought of what his Slayer said.

Normally he would have believed Buffy. But he was reluctant to do so at the moment, not because Spike was his nephew and he shouldn't ever doubt the boy, but more because he did not like what it might mean if what his Slayer was saying was the truth. Because that meant that Spike could be some sort of demon or some demon was inside him and that demon could've been the one who killed his parents. Even worse, it meant he would have to kill his only blood on this planet and the thought of having to do something like that sickened him to his very core.

Giles placed his hands on Buffy's shoulders, surprising her and stopping her from finishing her story.

"Thank you Buffy, for telling me this." he told her.

"I shall look in to it. But for now, I really need to go home and see to Spike. This is his first day back from school and I wish to be there when he gets home."

Buffy didn't like the sound of that. If Spike really was somehow evil, then her Watcher shouldn't be left in the same room as him.

"But Giles-"

He shook his head at her and stopped her from continuing.

"I appreciate your concern but Spike is my responsibility and if he is some sort of demon then I wish to handle it myself."

He then turned to face Joyce.

"Joyce, thank you again for your generous hospitality. I shall take my leave now." And with that, Giles left.

Buffy moved to go after him, but Joyce stopped her daughter.

"Mom!"

"Buffy, you heard Mr. Giles. Let him take care of Spike. He's his responsibility, remember?"

"But mom, he could get hurt! We don't even know what kind of monster Spike is. Or what he's capable of. If what I saw in the sewers is anything to go by then I don't trust him to be alone with Giles." Buffy stated.

"And that's the thing, isn't it, honey? We don't know what he is or even if he is a monster."

"He could be suffering from some form of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. After what happened to him, I'd be very surprised if he wasn't," she told her daughter.

"I saw him rip off the head of lizard demon with his bare hands. Even I can't do that. He's not normal, mom. And Giles-"

"Has an even bigger reason to want to help him, Buffy."

She approached her daughter and took her hand in her hands.

"Sweetie, put yourself in Spike's shoes. You just lost your parents; but aside from that, you were abused and assaulted by them too. Then suddenly your uncle, who had promised to take care of you and protect you, brings his Slayer with him to investigate if whether or not you're a demon or is being possessed by one? And if they find out that you are there's a huge possibility that the said Slayer could attack you because she is someone who slays demons. If all this happened to you, Buffy, how do you think you would feel about it?"

Buffy thought hard on it and finally understood what her mother was trying to tell her.

"I guess…I'd feel hurt, angry and betrayed by Giles if he'd do any of those things to me."

"Exactly. And that's why he went alone. Rupert wants to ask Spike about everything without you there to intimidate and make him feel threatened of your presence."

Buffy still looked worried though, despite her mother's reassurance.

"Oh, baby, Mr. Giles will be okay. I'm sure he'll be calling you in a few hours to inform you how his talk with his nephew went."

Of course, Joyce prediction came through and Giles did call Buffy, only he called merely minutes since he left their house.

"Giles?"

"Buffy! Tell me, when did you last see Spike?"

The urgency in his voice alarmed the Slayer.

"This morning after First Period Math, by the sewers, remember? Why do you ask?"

Giles didn't answer her. Instead, he asked a different question.

"And you haven't seen him all day?"

"No, I haven't."

She heard him curse on the other line. Buffy became even more worried about the other man.

"Giles, what's going on? Why are you asking about Spike? Did something happen? Has he harmed you in anyway?"

"I truly hope not. Buffy, I need you to help me find him, he took something of mine and I fear what he might do with it. The way his moods have been lately…the newspaper from the accident has also gone…I have a very bad feeling about this."

Giles was babbling now and she needed him to stop. The man who normally had an edge of calmness in dangerous situations had suddenly turned into a babbling wreck.

"Giles…calm down."

She could his breath down the phone. Strained from all the worry and stress the whole situation had been causing him. Ok, the possibility that Spike was a demon would cause anyone enough stress but it wasn't just that. Buffy had known Giles long enough to realise that he hadn't mourned properly for the loss of his sister or her husband. He didn't have time to. It was obvious to her from the little time she had spent with her watcher since he had come back that he was putting his grief, pain and feelings aside, so that he could properly help his nephew deal with his grief. Only, Giles didn't expect Spike to be so closed off from him, shutting him out and barely talking about the accident.

"What did he take?"

"My gun."

Authors' notes: Sorry it has taken a while for this to be posted. We've all been really busy with home life. Please read and review as always and part two of chapter five will be up in next couple of days.


	6. Chapter 5: Part Two

Disclaimer: All of the characters in this story belong to Joss Whedon *sigh*

Author's notes: This story is set in season three of Buffy the vampire slayer and will mostly stick to canon. A huge thanks to Kirsten, my friend for all her input and DeAmonQuEen for all your amazing help and advice.

Enjoy guys!

 **Chapter five; Part Two**

Buffy knew the second the word 'Gun' had left Giles' lips that this was something she or no one else could mess around with. The situation called for some seriously swift action. Not only to stop Spike from harming other people, if he was a demon, but to stop him from harming himself.

The decision to get him involved in looking for her watcher's nephew was not to be taken lightly. However she had made that choice as quickly as the idea come into her head.

Buffy burst inside Angel's room in Crawford manor, panting hard and surprising the said vampire in the process.

"Buffy, wha-?"

"Angel, I need your help!" she told him, grabbing his arm and dragging him outside the house.

"Buffy…where are we going? And what do you need me for?" he asked as he discreetly pulled his arm from her grasp, all the while looking around to make sure no one he knew saw him.

"Spike," was all she said before stopping and handing him a shirt.

"Spike?" he repeated.

She let out an exasperated sigh.

"Yes, Spike. You know the kid from the other night? The one who I was really nasty to?"

Angel nodded as he took the shirt and inspected it. It was black, small but larger than Buffy and definitely belonged to a man. He looked at the Slayer with a confused look.

"Why are you giving me one of Spike's shirts? Buffy…has something happened? Has he hurt you?" Angel asked with a serious tone.

"No!...No, he hasn't hurt me... I need you to smell it and help me find him."

"He's gone?"

"I need to find him! He's in danger, Angel. Or maybe he's a danger to other people, I'm not really sure. All I know is that we need to find him before someone gets hurt!" she told him.

The worried look on her face, her raising voice and her fast heartbeat, all these indicated that Angel should stop asking questions and just do what she wanted of him, but he couldn't. Because he wasn't sure it was a good idea for him to help her with this particular problem considering it involved Spike, the boy Whistler had told him to avoid.

"Gets hurt? Buffy, can you at least tell me what's going on first? I can't help you if you keep yelling at me to do this without telling me why I am doing it in the first place."

"I already told you why! Spike's missing and we need to find him!" she yelled, desperation painted clearly in her eyes.

"But why, Buffy? Why is it so important for me to look for him? Why am I risking being seen by people just to find a kid I haven't even met?" Angel asked.

He knew it sounded mean and cold-hearted of him, but he had to know. He was risking a lot here. He was risking going against the Powers and also risking this kid's life by approaching him, because he still was having problems controlling his demon when he thought of this mysterious new kid.

Buffy looked at him, angrily. She couldn't believe what she was hearing from Angel. Him, of all people questioning her about her reasons for asking his help to help someone? He never did that! He always lent a hand to her whenever she needed him or anyone who was innocent. No questions asked. But Angel was questioning her now, and it simply pissed her off, most especially since she knew they were only wasting more time when they could've found Spike by now.

Buffy sighed. She didn't want to give him too much information; after all it wasn't her place to be spreading the tragic tale of the car accident that killed Spike's parents. But at the same time, the slayer knew she had to give her ex-vampire lover a shred of truth.

"Look, Spike has Giles' gun! I don't know what he plans to do with it, but I do know that there's a possibility that he could hurt someone, including himself, with it…That's why I need you to help me find him. So stop asking questions and just help me!"

After finding out the reason, Angel did as what had been instructed to do and scented the shirt. He nearly lost it on the first whiff. Fortunately he was able to hold back his demon before he did. After he smelt the fabric, he scented the air and waited searched for the actual owner of the wonderful scent he had smelled on the shirt. It took him a few minutes but he was able to locate and pinpoint a direction on where the scent was.

"This way," Angel said, gesturing at Buffy to follow him.

OoOoOoOoOo

Twenty long minutes had passed and the pair arrived in one of the oldest cemetery in Sunnydale; Restfield Cemetery. Angel kept walking at a fast paced; only stopping to check whether the scent was still there. Buffy, on the other hand, merely followed the tall vampire in front of her, while eying where they were. She noticed that they were slowly arriving to the newer part of the cemetery where there weren't a lot of bodies buried yet and more vacant patches of land were still visible. It was upon their arrival on that part of the cemetery that Angel fully stopped to turn to her. A frown appeared on his face.

"He's right up ahead." He pointed to the clearing, where she could see a dark shadow a few meters ahead of her, accompanied by a steady stream of smoke going into the night sky.

Angel turned around to leave Buffy.

"Hey! Where are you going?" she asked, eying the vampire.

"I can't stay here, Buffy. It-it's not safe," he answered, his back facing her.

She didn't understand what that meant and his shaky voice made her worried about the vampire. So she grabbed his shoulder and forced him to face her, all while asking him what was wrong with him. Buffy stopped on her tracks as she saw the pained look on Angel's face.

"Oh, my god! Are you okay?" she asked approaching to touch the vampire.

Angel closed his eyes, letting the memory of a couple of weeks ago drift into his head.

 _ **Two weeks ago…**_

 _ **Angel hurriedly ransacked the fridge for the crimson nectar that was sustaining his un-life. He had only been back a couple of days. Still getting over his feral state. The guilt of what he had done to the woman he loved and her friends was too much; especially Giles. He knew the watcher had loved Jenny with all his heart and he had killed her in cold blood, using it to taunt the man as much as he could. He hated it. Hated Angelus; hated himself and the monster he was. Angel could easily sit and blame him losing his soul for all the wrong he had done. But he didn't because he knew that at the end of the day he was still to blame. The sick thing was that if Jenny hadn't of existed, the vampire knew that Giles had family back in England. A sister, brother-in-law and a nephew. He could've used them against him. And even though he had already killed Jenny, Angelus wasted hours pondering the ways he could use each member of his family to extract the pain and suffering on Rupert Giles ten times over. He never did though. For some reason, traveling to England was never on his to do list.**_

 _ **Angel stumbled over to the chair, closing his eyes as he took a sip of blood from his mug. He was just about to finish-**_

" _ **So, it's not a lie then. You're really back in the land of the living; well un-living but you catch my drift," a male voice exclaimed from the doorway.**_

 _ **Angel turned suddenly to the source of the familiar voice.**_

" _ **Whistler."**_

" _ **Angel."**_

 _ **The vampire stood up slowly and his visitor shook his head in disapproval.**_

" _ **You don't have to stand up on my account…you've been through a lot…you should rest. While you have the chance," Whistler informed.**_

" _ **Why are you telling me to rest? Why are you here, Whistler? Every time we meet it's because you have something important to tell me or show me so unless you're going to tell me what it is you want…please leave," Angel said, throwing a bit more force behind his voice.**_

 _ **Whistler shrugged his shoulders at the first part of his question.**_

" _ **Friendly advice; you never can get enough rest."**_

" _ **Look, I don't want any of this Powers That Be rubbish, ok? I know you work for them so just get on with it. What end of the world thing have I got to stop or helpless person do I need to help?" Angel asked, exasperated.**_

 _ **Whistler's face went from being light hearted to being serious.**_

" _ **That's exactly it. The Powers That Be want you to not do anything. Not to go rushing in, all shining armour. Not to help the boy."**_

 _ **The vampire blinked.**_

" _ **The boy? Which boy? And why are you telling me this?"**_

" _ **I can't go into much detail but…Rupert Giles' life has been turned upside down. His nephew will be coming to live with him and you need to stay away…It will only end badly…not just for you or for him but everyone."**_

" _ **Why? Whistler, you can't just tell me to stay away from him and not give me a proper explanation," he said, running his hand through his dark hair.**_

" _ **And I told you I can't go into it. Just heed my warning, Vampire. If you go near that boy. Help him in any shape or form; it will be dangerous for everyone. And believe me you and the boy don't need that bump in the road."**_

Angel opened his eyes, not letting her touch him and took a couple of steps away from her.

"I'm fine, Buffy. Just really tired. I'm still not at my hundred percent, which is why I snapped earlier. Don't worry about me." he answered.

Of course she would worry, he was her friend now, and he didn't look well; despite his reassurance. Buffy could still see physical evidence that negated his statement about being "fine". He was shaking and he was sweating real hard, Angel looked like he was in pain and for a moment she was certain she saw that his usual brown orbs shifted to amber then brown again.

Buffy was uncertain on what to do next. She wanted to help Angel, but she came here to help Spike. She had no idea how she should do things.

Luckily for her, Angel had a solution.

"Buffy, you said you needed to find Spike because he has Giles' gun. You found him, so you should be with him, not with me. He needs your attention more than I do right now."

She still looked like she was going to argue so he continued.

"Come on, Buffy, I'll be fine. I'm just gonna go back to the house and rest. And after you deal with this kid, come and visit me."

Though she was still reluctant. She agreed with Angel. Spike needed her more.

"Okay, but be careful okay? I'll visit as soon as I can."

Angel nodded, letting his eyes linger on Spike's form. He realised what he needed to do and hoped he had enough time to get the task done before Buffy came to visit him. Silently, he hoped that she would be there for a couple of hours because he needed to do this. Needed more information than he had and Angel wasn't going to ask his ex-lover any questions. So that left him with one option. Seek out the source of information. And with that he left, while Buffy turned to walk towards the other teen.

She found Spike sitting on the cold, damp grass, hugging his knees; the gun in one hand. There, she also found the source of the smoke; a burning trash can. At the top, was the last remains of what Buffy thought looked like a newspaper.

"So, this is where you are…you do realise Giles is going mad. He worried sick about you or what you're going to do with that," she said, indicating the gun.

Spike simply ignored the slayer. He was staring at the sky with a sad expression on his face. Buffy simply watched him, not certain what to do next. She eyed the gun in his hand and knew she had to take it from him first. But how? She wasn't certain. She considered taking it from him by force but decided against it. It was dangerous trying to take a gun from a kid who could behead a demon with his bare hands. So instead of fighting him, Buffy decided to join him and sat on the grass, right beside him. She looked up in the sky and thought and wondered what he was looking at.

"I'm looking for the Constellation of Cancer," he told her as if he was reading her mind.

"Do you know about his story and why he was placed in the sky?"

Spike didn't wait for Buffy to answer though and simply related the tale.

"According to the myth, a giant crab named Crios guarded the sea nymphs in the Greek god Poseidon's kingdom. He was enormous and strong, and Poseidon himself had blessed him with immortality. When the god of monsters Typhon, some giant that had the power of the storm, terrorized the gods of Olympus, Poseidon, along with most of the other gods, went into hiding. He left Crios in charge of protecting the sea nymphs, who were considered to be Poseidon's daughters. The crab took his role as protector very seriously, and wouldn't let any of the sea nymphs outside of his reach. After a while, some of the sea nymphs became restless and escaped into the open sea. Crios could not chase them as he was charged with protecting the other sea nymphs, so he enlisted the help of the giant squid, Vamari, whose name by the way literally translates to "Vampire Squid"."

He smirked at the irony that he was telling a Vampire Slayer a story of with a vampire squid for a villain. Something like that would only happen in a myth.

"Little did he know that this Vamari character had ill intentions and when he caught up to the sea nymphs; he bloody devoured them. When Vamari returned to Crios, he told the crab that despite a valiant effort, he couldn't find any of the missing sea nymphs. Of course, Crios knew that he was lyin' and attacked him. They battled for hours…the crab finally won. But he had sustained such bad injuries that he was terribly crippled from that time forward. Since he was immortal, though, he couldn't die, so had to live in pain. He continued his duties of protecting the sea nymphs despite it all."

Spike paused briefly, looking to his boots then back to the stars.

"So that's why when Poseidon returned and saw the bravery that the crab had shown, he relieved him of his pain, but not his immortality. He did so by placing him in the sky to be the Cancer Constellation."

A small smile graced his lips at the end of his tale and Buffy had to admit that he looked good when he smiled like that.

"Nice story, Isn't it?" He asked her, finally turning away from the sky to stare at the other teen beside him, acknowledging her presence.

"Always loved it. Me mum always said that I was a lot like the Cancer; Strong, Brave and always ready to protect those I cared about…no matter the cost. It was a nice thought, right until I found myself in a similar situation, then I realized just how hard it was to stay strong and protect those you love, especially when you are so wounded to continue with that duty. I can now understand why the Cancer chose to be turned into a Constellation."

He turned away from her again to face the stars once more.

"Never did before because hey-Why would he want to live in the stars when he can be with the ones he loves? And what about the nymphs? Who would protect them once he's gone?"

He paused, his face looking all nostalgic.

"I used to always ask my mum those questions. But I finally get it. The pain and how hard it is to live with all of it. I get why he'd choose to leave, why he'd chosen to be a bunch of bloody dots in the sky…because it was easier. It was easier to just give up than to live with this constant pain from the horrible memories and the aftermath of the betrayal. It's easier to accept death than to try to live in this change life I'm forced to live in…It's easier." Spike whispered the last part, his eyes landed on the gun in his hand.

"Death is the easy option…"

Buffy froze.

Based on what Spike was saying, it sounded like he wanted to end his life. She knew she shouldn't let him do that and she wanted more than ever before to just take the gun from him. She shifted a little into a position that was easier for her take the gun.

"But I'm not gonna be like Cancer. I won't take the easy way out." he continued.

"I ain't gonna leave the people I love behind to save my arse or cause it's too hard. I just can't. But I don't want to live in this constant pain either, because dammit! It's just so hard! I want it all to go away!...Every single one of those blasted memories! I want them gone! I want the memory of what he did to me gone!"

He was crying now, hugging himself. The gun was left discarded on the glassy ground.

Buffy kneeled beside him and slid the gun further away from him before taking him in her arms. She wasn't certain it was the right thing to do, to touch him without permission like this. But she felt that she had to do something and hugging someone who was distressed was the only thing she knew what to do. It's what her mother had taught her. She felt him tense at the first, but Spike didn't shove her off, so she took it as a good sign and continued hugging him. She rubbed his back comfortingly and had allowed the teen to cry.

A few minutes later, Buffy let Spike go. He was still sobbing but not as much as before. She waited for him to compose himself and when he was done, he turned to face her with an apologetic expression.

"Sorry 'bout that, pet. Must be weird seeing a man cry like I just did," he said.

Buffy shook her head.

"No, it's fine! I mean…I think after what you've been through, you deserve to cry a few tears; A whole ocean worth." she explained.

He gave her another one of his small smiles and Buffy felt happy that she was able to bring it out of him.

But as soon as the smile came, it left his lips almost immediately. Spike once again donned his usual stoic expression as he turned away from the Slayer and back to facing the stars.

Buffy felt disappointed. She had thought that she had breakthrough with him but it seemed that what she saw was just a moment of weakness and a need to let out his frustrations. But she could tell that he hadn't let everything out and it wasn't healthy.

She studied him for a moment, thinking of what she should say next.

"Spike…keeping whatever is bothering you inside…It will destroy you and eat you up inside, until there's nothing left but an empty shell."

He thought that sounded a bit like she was speaking from experience. Spike turned his eyes to meet hers. For the first time since he had moved to Sunnydale he had seen someone who he thought he might just be able to share his secrets with. But something was stopping him. Was it fear? Maybe. Lack of trust? Most definitely. He didn't think he would ever be able to trust anyone again.

"I can't…"

"Can't what? I'm not asking you to share the details with me…but you need to speak to someone about what happened…Giles is going to send you for professional help and I'm starting to agree with him that you need it. If you're not going to open up to him or anyone then that's the line he is going to go down."

Buffy knew it was only going to be a matter of time before it broke out and when it did, she didn't think that a simple story of the constellation can prevent Spike from completing his plan of ending his life.

"Look I know you've been through a lot-and you've been hurt so badly. But you can't just shut down people you care about. You said you want to protect them, that is why you didn't kill yourself earlier, right?"

She watched as he nodded slightly.

"Well, you should do more than just that. You're making the people you love worry and that's not protecting. Giles really loves you and he wants to help you. But yelling at him, being cold to him and not letting him in? Well, it's hurting him and he deserves more than that. You have to let him in, Spike. Tell him what's been happening to you. Tell him about what happened in the sewers this morning. Just tell him something, just so he'll know that he isn't a failure as an uncle…that you appreciate him."

"I do appreciate him and trust me, pet, I want nothing more than to tell him. To let him know about everythin'; but I can't tell him. I just can't, it's too dangerous..." He was shaking; his eyes looked scared and distant as if he was being lost in a memory.

"Spike?"

She touched his shoulder but the moment her hand made contact with him he started convulsing.

"Spike!" she cried out to him.

But he was just lost in the memory, and was fighting a phantom.

"NOO! Let me go! Mum! Da! Help me! Please! Let go! NOOOO! STOP!"

He was lying on the grass, screaming and thrashing, struggling to escape invisible restraints on his wrists.

"Please! Aaaaaah!"

"Spike! Spike! Dammit Spike! Wake up!" she said, trying to shake him awake.

A few moments later, Spike suddenly laid still, as if he fainted. Buffy looked down at him worriedly.

"Spike?" she called him softly.

"Wha-?" the blond teen asked as he woke up from the flashback.

"Buffy?"

He looked up at the young woman above him, then his eyes widened as he remembered what just happened.

He had a flashback of what happened and it happened while he was with the Slayer!

"Dammit!" he cursed suddenly, standing up.

"Spike, What the heck just happened? You were crying and screaming and looked like you were in pain."

"It was nothing," he answered turning away from her.

"It didn't look like nothing. It looked like you someone was doing something to you and you wanted them to stop. Spike, this isn't something you should be hiding from people. If whatever happened to you was so bad that you're reliving it, then you need to tell someone about it or you might end up getting hurt."

"Good!" Spike told her, turning around to face her.

"Rather me than Uncle Rupert! He didn't do anything. He's innocent in all of this and I'd like to keep it like that. Tellin' someone of what happened puts him in danger and I have to keep him safe. He's the only family I have left; I can't let him take him away from me like he did with my mum and da. I just can't…I have to protect him."

He was hugging himself again as he whispered the last part.

Buffy stared at the troubled teen and was starting to get really suspicious in all of this. From what she had been seeing and hearing, it seemed that Spike is being threatened to keep quiet of the events that had happened to him. If that is so, then there was more going on than what the reports of his parent's accident said, and she knew she needed to find out. She needed to know the full story because if her suspicions were true then someone's using Giles to threaten Spike into silence to cover up something they did to the blond teen.

Her eyes narrowed as her determination to find out the truth grew stronger.

"It wasn't a car crash…was it?"

The slayer carefully approached Spike and once again attempted to touch him. This time he did not resist nor did he flinch at her touch on his shoulder. He simply stood there hugging himself murmuring about how important it was to protect him.

"Spike," she called out to him.

"Listen to me. I know you want to protect Giles. I want that too, and we can protect him together. You just need to trust me and tell me what happened. Please, Spike, let me in."

His body shook harder at the Slayer's words, and when Buffy took him in her arms the dam broke. He told her. He told her everything. Every single detail he remembered, every pain they inflicted and every single one that was involved, he simply told her. Buffy's eyes widened at what the blond teen's confession. How his parents were killed before him; Quentin Travers raping him in a room full of watchers. Even to the part where that Watcher lady didn't give him the drug to make him forget. He told her all of it and only now did she truly understand Spike. Tears fell down her eyes as she heard what happened to him. Spike frowned at the sight of her tears falling.

"Why are you cryin'?" he asked her, incredulously, sniffing back his own tears.

"….I'm sorry," Buffy whispered.

"You have nothin' to be sorry for. You're not the one who—did _that_ to me. You didn't change my life forever…so you, have nothin' to say sorry for."

"But I was so bitchy to you and I didn't have a clue."

Spike shrugged.

"No one has a clue an' I'd like to keep it that way."

Buffy blinked, frowning as she took his words in.

"Is that what you want? To keep this locked away from the person you care about; forever?" she asked.

He looked back to the stars.

"Course not. But what other choice do I have? The man means business. He gets so much as a sniff that I've told Uncle Rupes; and he will…the bastard will have him killed. And then where does that soddin' well leave me? I'll tell you where…up shit creek without a paddle. Coz then I'd have no way of hidin' or runnin' from anything and he'd have every chance to come back and discover—"

Spike stopped as he realised what he was about to say, changing the words before they stumbled out of his mouth.

"So long as I don't tell him anything…Travers won't have an excuse to just come here and hunt me down…long as Giles is around…he won't be able to taunt me or anythin'."

"Wait…what do you mean, Travers won't discover what?"

"Jus' leave it, Buffy," he growled.

Buffy stood her ground though. She wanted the whole truth from Spike. If she had the whole truth then maybe she could figure a way to get that bastard to pay for everything he had done.

Buffy looked him in the eyes and that's when she knew for sure.

"He didn't just rape you, did he? What did he do?"

There was silence as the troubled teen fought to run away. He wanted nothing more than to leave and be alone. Spike fought an internal battle. Maybe if he told Buffy the entire truth, he could control the damage. He knew in the very short time of knowing her that she wasn't the type to back down; especially in a situation like this.

Steeling his breath, Spike finally spoke.

"He turned me into one of you."

Buffy's eyes widened once more, realising that what she had seen earlier that day must have been the slayer's power.

He had been through so much and had been forced in to something that he had wanted nothing to do with. They tried to turn him into a Slayer. Something like her. And they thought it had failed. But after seeing what Spike did to that demon, she knew otherwise. They succeeded far too much that Spike was beginning to lose control of himself and had blackout episodes where he did his Slaying without his own knowledge.

"No wonder he looked so horrified," she thought as she remembered the look on his face when he came to in the sewers. "He can't control his power and he barely recalls anything he's done while he uses it."

Buffy realized then and there that they needed to talk to someone else about this. Someone who knows about Slayers and can help Spike to control his abilities and train him to be one. They needed a Watcher in this, but Buffy knew they couldn't tell Giles or Wesley about it. She would never betray his trust like that. Giles because Travers threatened to kill him if Spike told him any of this and Wesley because he took part of the ritual that did this to Spike. They had absolutely no one to turn to. Buffy then understood why Spike wanted to kill himself. He felt so alone and was in pain but couldn't talk to anyone about it.

"Poor guy," she thought.

"Don't worry, Spike, you're not gonna be facing this alone anymore," she promised him making the other teen stare at her.

"I'm here now, Spike and as a fellow Slayer, I will try my hardest to be there for you. Not only as a friend or slayer. To protect you, help you train…be there with anything you need. I'll exhaust whatever resources I have; use whoever I can if it means I'm helping you get control of the slayer within…I'll sneak all of Giles' watcher books if it means I can help you…And believe me, I won't speak a word of this to ANYONE, I can promise you that. I'm not going anywhere…I'm not going to let him hurt you or Giles. Mark my words, Spike, we will find a way to make him pay."

Her eyes shone with determination and fury that would put fear in hearts of any demon who ever saw it.

Spike smiled at what he saw before him and shared a similar look with the Slayer. And for the first time in weeks, the boy didn't feel alone.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

Angel wasn't comfortable leaving Buffy alone to deal with Spike when he had a gun and could potentially use it against her. But he wasn't comfortable sticking around, risking his demon coming out and harming the boy. Leaving meant he could do one of two things. Go back home and be alone; trying to forget he ever saw the boy. The other option was to seek out Whistler, to get more information out of him. Angel was all set to just go home and ignore the entire situation, until his eyes landed on Spike's broken form.

So there he was, sitting in the dark alley that Willy's bar sat on. He had a run in with the demon bar owner, knowing full well that he would have had at least the whispers of where the agent of The Powers That Be was. At first, Willy thought Angel was a ghost, because he knew that he had died and gone to hell about six months back. The punch in the mouth made him believe he wasn't a figment of his imagination and Angel wasted little time in telling him how important it was that he kept his return under wraps. Willy agreed, of course. Scared of what one of the most infamous vampires in the world would do to him if he let slip.

What the vampire wasn't expecting was that Whistler would actually be in said bar, playing poker for kittens. Angel had told Willy that it was urgent and that he needed to tell him to drop whatever it was he was doing to come speak to him.

When Whistler finally emerged, Angel was on pins.

"I've been waiting for almost an hour for you…what the hell were you doing that's so important?!"

"Kitten poker stops for no one, Angel. If I had stopped Willy would've been scrapping little bits of Whistler out of the carpet for weeks. You know how competitive some demons can be."

"…Kitten poker? You made me wait because you—never mind. I need information."

Whistler eyed the vampire in front of him.

"What kind of information?"

"On the boy," Angel informed him.

The agent shook his head in disagreement. He knew he was stubborn but not that stubborn.

"You're risking being seen because you want more information on Spike?"

Whistler took a couple of steps forward before continuing.

"You have all the information you need. You know about the accident he and his parents were involved in and you know to stay away from him, so what else could you possibly need to know?"

"Stop lying to me, Whistler! I know there's more to it than that… I sensed power when I was near him. That's why I struggle to keep my demon under control when he is around. The Powers That Be wouldn't send you to keep an eye on me if it was a simple as that."

"Buffy came to me for help. Spike had gone missing with Giles' gun. I tried to stay out of it but she looked scared…I had to help her. I had all intentions of just leaving it there…but I felt it. This power was emanating from him and it's like I can't help myself…like I have to be around him…the look on his face—well what I could see of it said it all…he's lost, terrified and needs a shoulder to cry on," he continued.

"Yeah? Well that shoulder was never meant to be you, Angel," Whistler replied.

"…Then who…"the vampire growled.

Whistler didn't respond straight away, like he was carefully picking out his words. He knew Angel was stubborn and would just do his own thing whether or not he warned him off.

"Buffy is the one he needs right now…the one he will always need. I'm sorry to break it to you but you and little Miss Slay-a-lot were never destined for each other and I think you know that deep down…it's a pretty long winded tale to go into right now, so I'll leave it there for another day."

"No you won't. I need the information you have. They want me to stay away from him? Then give me a good reason to…coz right now it's pathetic excuses and they're not working on me," Angel warned.

"What type of power did you sense from him?" Whistler asked, suddenly.

Angel wasn't going to back down, the decision to part with even a shred of information was a tough one for him but he had to. He knew at the end of the day that Buffy was the one who would help the boy and see him through his dark times. He also knew that, in the end she would struggle with the responsibility and weight of the secrets she knew and would need someone to turn to. Deciding to go against The Powers That Be's wishes was going to cost him dearly. Maybe even cost them their life's.

The vampire shrugged.

"It was familiar but not, in a kind of roundabout way. Like I had sensed something like this before but it's different…more potent; stronger…purer…like he had the slayer demon in him…but that could've been whatever is inside of him mixing with Buffy's slayer—I have been a bit crazy since I've come back. Hell will do that to you."

Whistler gave him a pointed look, willing Angel to continue. He didn't let any words fall from his lips, wanting the vampire to come to his own conclusions.

Catching the look, Angel froze as the reality hit him like concreate.

"…That's not possible, is it? I thought slayers were always girls."

"If you do this you will both end up dead. Well you'll be deader than you are now and he will be six feet in the ground."

"Ok, so that happens. Maybe that's what I'm destined for? Why I'm so drawn to the kid? Ever think of that? Maybe you got the wrong slayer when you said I was destined to help Buffy. I never felt drawn to her like I do him...maybe I'm meant to be dust and he's meant to be dead...or maybe I'm destined to help him become a faster and stronger slayer?"

Whistler looked like he was considering what the ensouled vampire was saying. It could be true. All of it could be true. He was meant to stay away from Spike but Angel's destiny meant he was supposed to help him. A catch twenty two situation.

"Not everything THEY say is set in stone."

"But are you willing to risk the chance, Angel? The chance that you being involved in his life will cause you both to fall down? Ever think it wasn't about the small picture but the bigger one? You help him and you will regret it."

Whistler paused before deciding to carry on. He knew that what he was going to say next was never meant to leave his mouth but he said it none the less.

"The fact that he has the slayer demon in him in the first place is a complete travesty. The universe hates it. A male was never supposed to take the lineage of slayer...but he has through no fault of his own. Spike was forced into this life and has to deal with what Quentin Travers did to him and his family…stuff like that will really change a person and not just in the short term."

"It isn't the only reason you are drawn to the kid...in fact there's a fair few reasons...one of those reason is you see a lot of yourself in him. Ok, so he doesn't have your personality and looks but everything else? He mirrors you but is still his own person...I mean Liam is the Irish version of William, isn't it?"

Angel was furious now. Furious at the council for doing such a shocking thing to a boy of his age, furious at The Powers That Be for warning him away and furious at Whistler for actually going along with their crap.

"I have to help him…if me getting close to Spike means it makes him a stronger and a better slayer and I risk killing us both, then I'll do it…Buffy's is an amazing woman but I don't think she could handle this alone," he stated, keeping his expression as emotionless as possible.

Whistler folded his arms and frowned.

"And what do you going forward from here? If you're going to do this you need to make sure you have it all mapped out. No time for fuck ups…the fact that I'm even giving you any of this information is going to get me into a lot of trouble…however, the fact that I'm for some god forbidden reason going to stick around to help you as much as I can? That's going to get me fired…"

"So why are you sticking around?" Angel asked.

"Because sticking around would be a lot better than the alternative, for everyone …besides I kind of don't want to see you, you know-dust and I'm not finished telling you my story that's for another time and place…so, what's your plan?"

The vampire ran a cold hand through his brown locks and sighed. There was only one option.

"I wait for Buffy to come to me and ask for help…I don't want her not trusting me and I don't want Spike not trusting me either. And while I wait…I'll find a way to get my demon under control around him."

Whistler nodded.

"OK, that sounds like a good plan…just make sure you stick to it and don't go anywhere near him until you have the demon under wraps…I don't want any clean ups to do," he said, laughing slightly.

He looked to his watch and then back to Angel.

"Times been a-ticking so I really have to go…if you need me just come here and leave a message with Willy."

Whistler left, leaving Angel alone in the alley. There was only one way he was going to get the vampire side under control while he is around the boy…and that was to be around him. As much as Whistler warned him against the idea, he knew it was the next step he had to take.

He laughed at the notion that him ignoring Whistler's advice was becoming a habit of his.

Author's notes: There you go guys part two done and dusted (excuse the pun XD). Chapter six will be posted in the next week or so. Please please please read and review it means a lot to us to see what the readers think


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